The Second Sub-Regional South Asian Parliamentary Seminar on HIV/ Aids begins in the city today.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia will inaugurate the two-day seminar at Sonargaon Hotel, organised by the Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), an international organisation.

Renowned health expert and Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for HIV/Aids in Asia and the Pacific Nafis Sadik will read out the keynote paper.

About 50 parliamentarians from 13 countries will take part in the seminar to discuss how can the HIV epidemic in South Asia be characterised and how can the parliamentarians and community leaders fight stigma of HIV and discrimination.

Four working sessions on HIV in South Asia, political commitment, care and treatment and resource mobilisation will be held during the seminar, said Zahir Uddin Swapan MP at a press briefing at the National Press Club yesterday.

Ziaur Rahman Khan MP, co-chairman of the organising committee, said HIV/Aids is one of the highly prioritised problems across the world and it needs to be addressed at policy level.

The seminar will also reassess the achievement of the first Sub-Regional South Asian Parliamentary seminar on HIV/AIDS held in Islamabad last year, he added.

Chief Whip of the Opposition Abdus Shahid MP, Ruhul Kuddus MP and Sazia Rafi, secretary general of PGA, were also present.